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Jack Ruby
Jack Alan Ruby, Jr. (born October 12, 1953) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler who is currently under contract with War Zone Wrestling where is makes appearances on all 3 brands as commissioner of WZW. On the 2/11/09 episode of Monday Night Inferno, it was announced that Ruby would be a member of the 2009 Hall of Fame induction class. He will be indcuted by his good friend Dusty Rhodes, an onscreen authority figure and backstage booker and creative head for WZW. Early career Ruby began training with wrestling legend Hulk Hogan in 1992, and finished training either at the end of 1993 or the beginning of 1994 (the exact date is unknown). During 1993, Ruby wrestled for a number of promotions on the independent circuit, and also wrestled a number of dark matches for both the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), unable to decide who to sign with. In late 1993, Ruby decided to sign with WCW, because he wanted to follow his trainer and mentor, Hogan (who had also signed rescently with WCW), in hopes to "fine-tune his skills for when he began on his own". World Championship Wrestling Ruby made his pro debut with WCW in 1994, using the gimmick Gamma Jack, making his debut in a "rookies and veterans" mixed tag match, where he teamed with his mentor Hulk Hogan, against Larry Zbyszko and Alex Wright . Ruby's team won when Hogan pinned Zbyszko after using his signature Legdrop on him. Hogan and Ruby began a short feud with Zbyszko and Wright, but the feud was dropped after Hogan defeated Zbyszko to become the numner-one contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and when Wright was injured after a match with Jim Duggan. After this, Jack began to pursue a singles career. He had a brief run as the United States Champion after defeating Jim Duggan for the title in a non-televised dark match before Slamboree 1994. He would, however, lost title back to Duggan after 2 weeks as champion. After a brief hiatus due to a torn hamstring, Ruby returned to WCW programming with a "Ladies Man" gimmick and began calling himself Handsome Jack. However, by this time, Ruby's WCW contract was close to expiring, and he was primarily used as a jobber for the remainder of his contract. Ruby's last WCW appearance was in a losing effort to Chris Benoit on the 6/6/94 episode of Monday Nitro. He was released shortly there afterward. Extreme Championship Wrestling Ruby signed a one-year contract with Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995. He resurrected his old Gamma Jack gimmick on his first ECW appearance on the 2/4/95 edition of ECW on TNN. During his time in ECW, he formed a short lived tag-team with Bam Bam Bigelow, and the two would get a shot at then tag team champs Randy Couture and Mikey Whipwreck, but failed to win the titles. The team eventually disbanded, and Ruby started a feud with Johnny Magnum. This feud was short-lived, as Magnum went on the disabled-list. Ruby was given a huge push, and earned a shot at the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, held by Terry Funk at the time. He turned heel and feuded with Funk over the title, but came up short. Eventually he would lose his number-one conterdership status to ECW newcomer Brock Lesnar. His final ECW match was a triple-threat match for the ECW World Title against Funk and Lesnar at Hardcore Heaven. He left shortly afterwards. International Wrestling Association Ruby made his debut with the IWA in 1996. His first match in IWA was a huge upset over heavyweight champion The Syndicate in a title match. He began a bloody feud with Syndicate, {{during which Syndicate regained the title 2 months after losing it. Ruby has suffered a legitimate back injury during the bout, and left to took a hiatus. He returned after a month as the on-screen commissioner of the IWA, where he frequently booked babyface wrestlers to face The Syndicate in attempts to take the title from him. After The Syndicate finally lost the title to Anthony Primus, he brutally assaulted Ruby, who was the ringside enforcer. Ruby left IWA shortly after that, saying he was unhappy with his situation there. World Wrestling International Ruby had a short stint with WWI where, due to the legitimate back injury he suffered in IWA, he appearead in a non-wrestling role as the WWI Director of Authority, but he'd return to the ring after a few months, because his back injury had healed. However, he only had three matches with WWI before it shut its doors due to budget problems. In his final match for the promotion, he won the WWI World Heavyweight Championship from Jeff Jarrett; he is recognized as the final WWI champ. National Wrestling Alliance Ruby joined the NWA after leaving WWI, taking the WWI heavyweight belt with him. He developed a rebellious heel gimmick and dubbed himself "The Outlaw" Jack Ruby. He wore the WWI belt everywhere and began declaring himself as "the real champion of the world." . His most notable feud was with NWA champion Sid Justice, whom he eventually defeated to win his first World Title. He would eventually drop the title back to Justice, after which a double-turn occurred. Ruby continued to feud with Justice, who was now called Sid Vicious, and continued to be a NWA mainstay for the rest of his tenure there. Short Return to WCW . Ruby began appearing with WCW as a masked man named "Ace". His first appearance in this gimmick was when he attacked Kurt Angle during a promo. Ace continued to attack various superstars, most of them faces, which hinted that Ace was a heel. However, Ace became a face himself when he saved Kurt Angle from an attack at the hands of the New World Order. He feuded with the nWo for the next few months, until Hollywood Hogan asked for a match against him in a mask-vs-moustache match, which Hogan won. He was later unmasked and revealed to be Jack Ruby. Ruby turned heel after this and revived his "Outlaw" gimmick, but made it darker and sinister, re-dubbing himself "The New Age Outlaw". He wrestled as an unnoficial member of the nWo and feuded with Angle and Sting for the remainder of his time in WCW. He left soon after his contract expired. Saturday Night's Main Event After leaving WCW, Ruby signed with SNME, where he engaged in a year-long "dream feud of the millenium" with "Soulfire" Justin Tyger. All of his SNME matches were against Tyger before deciding to leave once again. No-Holds-Barred Wrestling Organization Ruby made a few appearances with NHBWO, where he continued to feud with Tyger. He traded the NHBWO World Championship with Tyger twice before NHBWO shut its doors. World Wrestling Federation Ruby appeared in the WWF's annual Royal Rumble match in 1999, where he was a surprise entrant at number twenty. Signature Moves Finishers: *''Ace of Spades / Doom Driver'' (Spike Piledriver) *''Dominator'' (Inverted Powerbomb) *''Diamond Clothesline / Razor's Edge'' (Lariat; used as a regular move in WZW) *''Camel Clutch (1996–1998)'' *''Cobra Clutch (1999–Present)'' Other Moves: *Lou Thesz press *''Luck of the Deal'' (High-impact Elbow Drop, with theatrics) *Mounted punches *Inverted neckbreaker *Dragon Sleeper *Double underhook suplex *Big Boot *Dropkick *Russian legsweep *Spinebuster *Knife-edge Chop Theme Music: *'"Ace of Spades" by Motorhead - Current' *"Get in the Ring" by Guns N' Roses *"Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf *"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix *"Seek and Destroy" by Metallica *"The Boys are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy *"Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen Nicknames: *"The Ace of Spades" *'"The Gambler"' *"The Gamblin' Man" *"The War Machine" *"The Outlaw" *"The New Age Outlaw" *"The Bionic Strongman" *"Jack of Diamonds" *"The American Bad Ass" *"The Jack of All Trades" *'"The Living Legend"'